Omachuck: Blog

Hello All -

I'm back, finally, really. Some of you know that I fell while touring in the Galapagos Islands (October 2021) and fractured three cervical vertebrae - broke my frigging neck... So December 2021 I had a cage put in front of my spine, In the Spring 2022 I had elbow and wrist surgery to repair damage from the fall, and in June had a plate put in the back of my neck to fully stabilize my spine. All done, right? Nope, in January 2023 I developed a subdural hematoma, and had to have 2 holes drilled in my hard head to drain the excess blood pressing on my brain. I'm mostly good now - left arm/hand is still a little wonky and painful from residual nerve damage. With PT and time, there's improvement to the point I am now physically able and mostly mentally able to concentrate to resume writing and proof reading.

Sob story over. 78-years old and otherwise healthy and kicking.

My initial ideas for The Beard popped into my head in October of 2019, but I stopped any significant work after the June 2022 surgery - My ability to concentrate was shot to hell. This spring I resumed work and have incorporated the ideas and addressed concerns from the Swarm authors group’s earlier feedback. The story has a LOT of elements that create entirely new canon, and provides canon that addresses/explains stuff in older stories that seems to violate canon going way back.

So The Beard’s eleven chapters are finished and proofed and will start uploading Friday morning 8/16/2024. Most of the characters first appear in Caleb and Cheval Jaune and reading/rereading is highly advised. I’m working on a character list that could be appended at the end, but that is not in shape yet. If you’ve recently read Caleb and Cheval Jaune, you shouldn’t need it. As always feedback is welcome and appreciated. Enjoy!

As a side note, I think this will be my last Swarm story for a while. I have some ideas for the Damsels in Distress universe that I want to explore.

Some Swarm Authors use Dropbox to store our stories and post them for proofing. At some point I will be taking over administration and was reviewing author folders. I discovered a late version of Lordshipmayhem's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. I contacted Laz and he graciously agreed to post the final chapters.

A few years before Gary passed away, he told us that it was the battle scenes that he needed to finish. I'm not sure this would have been the final final version, but it hangs together. Gary and his fans deserve this conclusion.

If you haven't read R&G recently, I highly recommend that you start from the beginning. If you haven't read it at all, well...

Enjoy! Mike

I was a proof reader for Magic 101. Send me a note with contact info. I'll help.

Mike

Mutiny on the Bunte Kuh must have shown up in SOL's streams, because the number of downloads jumped tremendously. More important to me, was the increase in folks choosing to vote. I thank you.

I have another Swarm story sitting on my computer. It needs something, but I can't make it work the way I want. I think partly because I'm again pushing the boundaries of the Swarm Cycle universe. A lot!

I think I told you I tripped, fell, and fractured several cervical vertebrae and messed up my left arm and hand. Four surgeries for those last year, and this January I was in Jamaica and had a subdural hematoma. Had to have two holes drilled into my skull and the excess blood drained. The surgeon and after care in the Jamaican hospital were as good or better than in the USA. Much less expensive, too.

The hole drilling reminded me of scenes in Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey–Maturin series of sea novels. (Highly recommended!...The stories, not the drilling )

Anyway, I think that my brain, neck, and fingers are stable and functional enough that I can dig back in and finish The Beard and upload it this fall. Then I have a story idea in the Damsels In Distress universe and maybe a Swarm Cycle story back in my earlier Harem era.

Your inquiries, votes, and best wishes have been appreciated. Again my thanks...

Mike

First, THANK YOU for the many responses and well thought out responses to my question on letting readers know the suggested reading order for my stories.

I've recently questioned moderators on how to fix something that doesn't work right for me. Some time ago, I used a utility in the account manager to change the order of my stories on my home page. This change never took place. They responded quickly with instructions, and now the page will display the reading order I suggest.

As a work around that I use when I want the reading order for other authors, I go to their home page and use the date/update sort and specify oldest first. On my page, that also gives a good reading order for any of my series stories - Swarm, Damsels in Distress, and The Human Nexus Universe. This is complicated a little because other series and stories get mixed in.)

Anyway, I hope this hopes for my stories and other authors' series.

Thanks for reading!